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User blog:Asnow89/Veronica Roth Answers YOUR Questions
Hi Divergent lovers! You asked and Veronica answered! Everyone submitted some really great questions, but unfortunately we could only select thirteen questions. We hope you enjoy her thoughtful and insightful answers! Writing Career 1. What made you want to become an author? (Perfectdisasters) Writing has been a hobby since about sixth grade, so I think I would have been writing almost daily whether I got published or not. But the desire to get work published is kind of a strange one—as much as I told myself I was just writing for my own enjoyment, I did feel like I would be missing out on something if I never tried to share my stories with anyone. Also, the career of “author” is the best way to get the most writing time in possible, if the stars align and you can do it full time. So those reasons—the desire to share, and the practical concerns of wanting to spend my time doing what I loved—came together for me, and I’m fortunate to have been able to make a full-time job of it. 2. What’s the best thing about being an author? (TheGreenMadHatter ) I would say the best thing is being able to make a living doing what I really love, like I talked about earlier. Not everyone is able to do that, and I feel so lucky. And the next best thing is hearing interesting thoughts and reactions to the stories I’ve written—I never dreamed they would connect with people the way they have, and it’s pretty incredible. 3. How did you get interested in writing this particular genre? '(TheGreenMadHatter) I didn’t really start writing in this genre on purpose—it just kind of happened. I’ve always gravitated toward characters at this age. They’re just forming themselves, figuring out who they are, but they’re still going through things that feel very adult, in some ways. And I’ve always loved science fiction and fantasy, since I was a child. So it seems only natural that the two should come together. '''4. Is there an author who has influenced your writing? '(BlackMage9) I wouldn’t single out any author in particular, but all the books I read when I was younger helped me to believe in the power of stories for young readers, which has kept me going through discouraging writing times. (It would be hard to list them all, but some of the stand-outs are Lois Lowry, Garth Nix, Madeleine L’Engle, Diana Wynne Jones…) '5. Which book have you read the most times? '(BlackMage9) I’ve probably read through the Harry Potter books more often than any others, and of those, books 3-7. Half-Blood Prince is my favorite. '6. When did you come across the most writers block in writing each book? '(Wikia User) I always struggle with creative blocks when writing first drafts—that’s my least favorite part of the process, probably, except for some of the later-stage, small-scale edits when I don’t get much time to rest between reading drafts. I didn’t have this problem while writing Divergent, but while writing Insurgent and Allegiant I got stuck a lot. Usually when I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take, and I could see my indecision on the page. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but when you, as a writer, refuse to make a choice so you try to ride the line between two choices instead, it makes for a confusing, bland story. '7. We have a lot of budding authors here on Wikia. What's the best piece of advice you've gotten that you would pass on to young writers? '(Bachlynn23) I’m not sure I’ve ever received this directly as “advice,” but something I learned from teachers and professors and other writers over the years was: write a lot. Write when you want to, write when you don’t want to. Keep writing even when you fail, because you will fail, eventually, probably repeatedly. Love writing more than you love what you can do with writing. On a more practical level, I wasn’t sure how to end a short story once and my professor told me to look for my ending in the story I had already written. “The ending is in there, you just have to find it,” is what she told me. Basically, the ending should come organically from the text itself, not be imposed from outside like an act of god. And when I’ve gotten stuck, that advice has really helped me to figure out where to go. '''Divergent Book Questions 8. If you could meet any of your own characters, who would it be and why? '(TheGreenMadHatter) I’m not sure I really want to meet any of them—not because I don’t love them, but because I know them so well and they would have no idea who I was, and that just sounds strange and bewildering. I’m probably taking this question far too seriously. I’d want to meet Tris, probably, because I find her fascinating and have come to really admire her. '''9. If you were to be part of the Divergent world, which faction would you choose and why? '(Perfectdisasters) I would probably choose Abnegation, simply because I think I agree with them—of all the human faults that contribute to world problems, selfishness seems, to me, to be the most pervasive and problematic. I’m not sure I would really last in any faction, though. Factionlessness sounds more appealing than trying to stuff myself into a very small box for the rest of my life. '10. Why did you choose Tris's fears to be what they were? (Wikia User) ' I went about Tris’s fears backwards—I wrote her obstacles sort of by instinct (so, the glass box full of water, the attack of the birds, etc.), and then backtracked to figure out what she was really afraid of (loss of control, etc.). I wrote the book out of order, so I actually wrote through her fears fairly early, and they informed the way I developed her character, not the other way around. '''11. How did you come up with the setting for the Divergent series? (BlackMage9) As with most of the series, the setting wasn’t as intentional as you might think. I wanted an urban environment, because I liked the feeling of claustrophobia it gave the story, particularly for Tris in the beginning, when she feels stifled by Abnegation. And the urban environment I developed had these tall buildings and elevated trains and marshy areas, and I realized I had written my favorite city (Chicago!) into the manuscript almost by accident. I decided to go with it. 12. Have you ever considered doing a Divergent map of Chicago for readers? (Wikia User) Not really, mostly because some of the places are impossible and don’t really exist (Dauntless headquarters and the Amity compound, for example), and I’d hate to point that out in such a direct way. I love that the story is in Chicago, but I never wanted to be so tightly bound to the real Chicago that I couldn’t be imaginative and depict weird, almost dreamlike environments. Divergent Movie Questions 13. We noticed there are roles cast that weren't characters in the book: Blythe Baird is playing a character named Erin Quinn, Casimere Jollette is playing Claire Sutron, and Parker Mack is playing Sam Robertson. Can you tell us anything about these new characters? Did you help in the creation of them? (GokaiYellow) I’m not really sure what that’s about—I’ll be interested to see who those people are along with everyone else! Category:Blog posts Category:October Book Club Category:Authors